Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are fundamental sensor molecules of the host innate immune system, which detect conserved molecular signatures of a wide range of microbial pathogens and initiate innate ...immune responses via distinct signaling pathways. Various TLRs are implicated in the early interplay of host cells with invading viruses, which regulates viral replication and/or host responses, ultimately impacting on viral pathogenesis. To survive the host innate defense mechanisms, many viruses have developed strategies to evade or counteract signaling through the TLR pathways, creating an advantageous environment for their propagation. Here we review the current knowledge of the roles TLRs play in antiviral innate immune responses, discuss examples of TLR-mediated viral recognition, and describe strategies used by viruses to antagonize the host antiviral innate immune responses.
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•TLRs are membrane-bound sensors that activate innate immune responses to viruses.•TLRs recognize viral proteins on cell surface or viral nucleic acids in endosomes.•TLRs employ distinct pathways to induce interferon (IFN) antiviral and/or inflammatory responses.•Viruses have evolved elaborate tactics to circumvent TLR-mediated innate immunity.•TLRs regulate viral pathogenesis and are amenable to therapeutic purposes.
Carbon quantum dots-modified graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (CNNS/CQDs) catalysts with high and stable activity for photocatalytic generation of hydrogen through water splitting were ...successfully constructed.
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•Composite photocatalysts based on g-C3N4 nanosheets and CQDs were prepared.•High visible light photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution.•Effective separation and transfer of charge carriers.
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were deposited onto graphite-like carbon nitride nanosheets (CNNS) to form CNNS/CQDs composites. The prepared CNNS/CQDs composites exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation than pure CNNS do. The CNNS/CQDs-7 sample displays the highest photocatalytic performance, with H2 production rate of 116.1μmolh−1, which is three times of that over pure CNNS (37.8μmolh−1). Photoluminescence spectroscopy and photoelectrochemical (PEC) analysis reveal that the CQDs are favorable for trapping electrons and promoting the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in CNNS. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic performance for H2 generation over CNNS/CQDs will be proposed in this paper.
Background and Aim
Remimazolam tosilate (RT) is a new short‐acting GABA(A) receptor agonist, having potential to be an effective option for procedural sedation. Here, we aimed to compare the efficacy ...and safety of RT with propofol in patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
Methods
This positive‐controlled, non‐inferiority, phase III trial recruited patients at 17 centers, between September 2017 and November 2017. A total of 384 patients scheduled to undergo upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were randomly assigned to receive RT or propofol. Primary endpoint was the success rate of sedation. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded to evaluate safety.
Results
The success rate of sedation in the RT group was non‐inferior to that in the propofol group (97.34% vs 100.00%; difference in rate −2.66%, 95% CI −4.96 to −0.36, meeting criteria for non‐inferiority). Patients in the RT group had longer time to adequate sedation (P < 0.0001) but shorter time to fully alert (P < 0.0001) than that in the propofol group. The incidences of hypotension (13.04% vs 42.86%, P < 0.0001), treatment‐related hypotension (0.54% vs 5.82%, P < 0.0001), and respiratory depression (1.09% vs 6.88%, P = 0.0064) were significantly lower in the RT group. AEs were reported in 74 (39.15%) patients in the RT group and 114 (60.32%) patients in the propofol group, with significant difference (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion
This trial established non‐inferior sedation success rate of RT compared with propofol. RT allows faster recovery from sedation compared with propofol. The safety profile is favorable and appears to be superior to propofol, indicating that it was feasible and well tolerated for patients.
Polycyclic aromatic compounds with strong conjugated effect, possess the advantage of improving electronic polarizability, thus accelerating the electron transportation. Here, a facile ...copolymerization between urea and polycyclic aromatic compounds (benzoic acid, naphthoic acid and anthroic acid) has been applied to constructing aromatic rings-grafted graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) photocatalysts. Incorporation of aromatic rings in the GCN network is an effective protocol to extend its π-conjugated system for visible light harvesting and improves the charge transfer efficiency for prolonging lifetime of photogenerated charge carriers in photocatalytic reactions. The corresponding characterization methods demonstrate that the aromatic rings-modified GCN can effectively narrow the bandgap to favor broad band visible light absorption and suppress recombination of electrons and holes. Remarkably, the moderate conjugated effect of aromatic rings (naphthalene) is crucial to promote charge separation. The developed naphthalene-grafted GCN achieves the highest water splitting performance with hydrogen evolution rate up to 102.1 μmol h−1, nearly 3.5 times of that of the GCN, and apparent quantum efficiency reaches 5.6% at 450 nm. This finding reveals that the conjugated effect of aromatic rings is significant to control photocatalytic property and brings new ideas for designing aromatic system-modified GCN as highly active photocatalysts towards solar-to-chemical energy conversion.
This study reports the preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity of aromatic rings-grafted graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) photocatalysts, which display enhanced visible light absorption and improved separation of charge carriers due to the extended π-conjugated system, and thus the high hydrogen evolution rate. Display omitted
Foundation species define the ecosystems they live in, but ecologists have often characterized dominant plants as foundational without supporting evidence. Giant kelp has long been considered a ...marine foundation species due to its complex structure and high productivity; however, there is little quantitative evidence to evaluate this. Here, we apply structural equation modelling to a 15-year time series of reef community data to evaluate how giant kelp affects the reef community. Although species richness was positively associated with giant kelp biomass, most direct paths did not involve giant kelp. Instead, the foundational qualities of giant kelp were driven mostly by indirect effects attributed to its dominant physical structure and associated engineering influence on the ecosystem, rather than by its use as food by invertebrates and fishes. Giant kelp structure has indirect effects because it shades out understorey algae that compete with sessile invertebrates. When released from competition, sessile species in turn increase the diversity of mobile predators. Sea urchin grazing effects could have been misinterpreted as kelp effects, because sea urchins can overgraze giant kelp, understorey algae and sessile invertebrates alike. Our results confirm the high diversity and biomass associated with kelp forests, but highlight how species interactions and habitat attributes can be misconstrued as direct consequences of a foundation species like giant kelp.
This paper proposes a novel duty ratio modulated direct torque control (DDTC) to concurrently reduce torque ripple and stator flux ripple that are typically associated with conventional direct torque ...control (DTC). Three different methods of duty ratio determination are presented to achieve various control objectives, namely DDTC-final, DDTC-mean and DDTC-rms. Additionally, adjustable error weight coefficients are introduced to balance the torque ripple reduction and stator flux ripple reduction. Experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of proposed DDTC. Furthermore, the comparative evaluation of proposed DDTC, conventional DDTC and DTC is conducted on the basis of several criteria to verify the superiority of proposed DDTC.
For the purpose of improving the performances of T-type neutral point clamped (T-NPC) photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected inverter under large grid, a passivity-based decoupling control scheme is ...proposed in this paper. First, the Euler-Lagrange (EL) mathematical model of a T-NPC PV grid-connected inverter with an LC filter is built based on the power circuit and operating principles. Second, with this EL mathematical model and passivity of the inverter, the passivity-based controller is designed by the damping injecting method. Third, by adopting a proportional integral regulator to directly control direct current (dc) voltage, together with passivity-based indirect control, better performances of the dc voltage control can be further obtained. With the proposed passivity-based controller, the PV grid-connected inverter can achieve both dynamic current decoupling under the synchronous rotating dq coordinate and dc side voltage dynamic decoupling, which can improve the quality of the current connected into the power grid. The passivity-based PV grid-connected inverter is with strong robustness against parameters perturbations of resistors and attenuating the influence of delay in the inverter. Moreover, the passivity-based decoupling control scheme proposed in this paper for the T-NPC PV grid-connected inverter has a simple structure, and is easily debugged and realized in engineering. Experimental results under 10-kW prototype show that the proposed control scheme is effective.
MYB transcription factors (TFs), as one of the largest gene families in plants, play important roles in multiple biological processes, such as plant growth and development, cell morphology and ...pattern building, physiological activity metabolism, primary and secondary metabolic reactions, and responses to environmental stresses. The function of MYB TFs in crops has been widely studied, but few studies have been done on medicinal plants. In this review, we summarized the MYB TFs that play important roles in secondary metabolism and emphasized the possible mechanisms underlying how MYB TFs are regulated at the protein, posttranscriptional, and transcriptional levels, as well as how they regulate the downstream target gene networks related to secondary metabolism in plants, especially in medicinal plants.
Abstract
Before and after the EMC immunity test, it is necessary to verify whether the main performance indicators of the tested equipment are reduced. The protection and action characteristics test ...device is the equipment to verify the main performance indicators of mining electrical switches and motors. Its research and development involves a variety of equipment to cooperate to realize its system functions. However, there is no single manufacturer in the market to produce such equipment or system, which needs independent research and development according to the needs of the electrical equipment tested in the laboratory. The protection and action characteristic test device is applied to the mechanical characteristic test of high-voltage switch. It can be used as the test equipment for high-voltage and low-voltage leakage action value and time test, as well as the leakage current and capacitive current compensation efficiency test. It can also be used for the characteristic test of the test device, overcurrent protection characteristic test and other test items.
Malignant melanoma is aggressive and has a high mortality rate. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) has been linked to melanoma growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. However, signal transduction mediated by ...TLR4 for driving melanoma progression is not fully understood. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has been identified as a major oncogene in melanoma progression. We found: that TLR4 expression positively correlates with activation/phosphorylation of STAT3 in human melanoma samples; that TLR4 ligands activate STAT3 through MYD88 and TRIF in melanoma cells; and that intratumoral activation of TLR4 increases STAT3 activation in the tumor and promotes tumor growth, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the formation of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in mice. Further, we found that the effects mediated by activating TLR4 are weakened by suppressing STAT3 function with a dominant negative STAT3 variant in melanoma. Collectively, our work identifies STAT3 activation as a key event in TLR4 signaling-mediated melanoma progression, shedding new light on the pathophysiology of melanoma.
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